The Bloody History of York’s Shambles

The Shambles is a historic street in York, England, featuring preserved medieval buildings, some dating back as far as the 14th century. The street is narrow, with many timber-framed buildings with jettied floors that overhang the street by several feet. It was once known as The Great Flesh Shambles, probably from the Anglo-Saxon Fleshammels (literally flesh-shelves), the word for the shelves that butchers used to display their meat. In 1885, thirty-one butchers' shops were located along the street, but none remain today.

Although not named in the Domesday Book of 1086, it has been identified through an entry which lists two butchers' stalls near the church of St Crux (ii bancos in macello nr ecclesiam St Crucis) being in the ownership of the Count of Mortain.

The naming of the street after butcher stalls has stuck since the 14th century because the association of the street with butchers has been a large part of its history and character. This was because of a continuous tradition of butchers occupying the street that was upheld for centuries. This is probably in large part due to the favourable architecture of the street towards butcher practices of centuries past. The rears of the shops were slaughterhouses and the fact the buildings shade the narrow street from direct sunlight meant that the meat on display could stay fresh for longer. Also, when butchering took place, the guts, offal and blood were thrown into the street runnels that had a natural slope which helped it wash away after rain. These butchering practices long predated basic modern standards of hygiene and the street would have been incredibly unhygienic in these days.

The last butcher shops on the street closed in the early 20th century and although the butchers have now vanished, a number of the shops on the street still have meat-hooks hanging outside and, below them, shelves on which meat was displayed. The shops include restaurants and shops as well as a bookshop and a bakery.
In medieval times, many streets in York had a similar appearance to the Shambles, such as The Water Lanes. The Shambles preserves a large amount of original medieval-built fabric, with many buildings dating from circa 1350–1475. Along with this, the picturesque qualities of the narrow street with its timber-framed jettied houses have meant that, since as early as the 19th century, it has been recognised as a major attraction of the city of York.